Isn't it Romantic? Not!
by Midorima Kazunari
Summary: Set between Winter Cup and the events of Partners, this two-shot focuses on Valentine's Day and White Day as celebrated by the members of the Generation of Miracles. (A companion piece to Partners) (Rated T for mild language in Chapter 2)
1. Chapter 1

Kise hates Valentine's Day. It begins the moment he walks out his front door and stumbles into the pile of packages left outside. He checks each tag, but he doesn't know a single name of any of the gift givers. He is prepared though, and fills a shopping bag with each of the sparkly red packages. He drops the entire stash off at the retirement home at the end of the street. He feels slightly guilty, because some of them were homemade and some of them were quite expensive, but somehow, that guilt isn't enough to make him eat even a single bite of them.

It continues at school. His locker is overflowing with treats, and he fills the now empty shopping bag and pretends that he loves all of the attention. He checks each tag carefully, looking for any names he knows. Kise has a tradition, and he will only eat chocolates from someone he actually knows and likes. On White Day, he will be expected to return the favor to the entire female student body of Kaijō, and that makes him tired in anticipation. When a girl actually delivers chocolate to him in person, he applauds her bravery, but he still doesn't eat it. "If I eat one piece of yours in front of everyone, then I will have to eat one piece of everyone's. You don't want me to get fat, do you?" he jokes with an easy smile and a conspiratorial wink. "I'll save it for when I'm alone tonight." He's learned that all the girls around him love that shameless flirt persona he affects for his modeling work, and it is just as easy to turn in on at school as on the runway.

There is no practice on Valentine's Day - his team is half-joking/half-grateful for the day off – but it makes Kise restless. He wants to think of February 14th as just another day, and this throws off his whole rhythm. On the way home from school, Kise drops the rest of the chocolate off at a residential home for orphans. There is not a single piece of chocolate left when he finally returns home and he is pleased about that.

The only Valentine's present he keeps comes from Momoi, and she drops it off personally at a little after six pm on her way to somewhere else. She knows him better than anyone outside his family, and the onion gratin soup is perfect. It is low in calories, low in fat, low in guilt, and he will happily remember her on White Day.

* * *

Murasakibara isn't interested in Valentine's Day, but he has a plan for February 15th and the myriad of half-price chocolate sales throughout the city. He has a list made up of the places he will visit, in what order he will visit them, and how much money he anticipates spending at each. He has a budget. He is vaguely aware of Himuro's amusement at how much time and effort he is putting into this task, but he is too lazy to care.

Murasakibara accepts any and all gifts on Valentine's Day and eats each one in the order in which they are received. He doesn't get many, only a dozen or so from the first year girls who don't know that their sweets will not be returned on White Day. He does grace each girl with a slight smile, and that will have to suffice.

Before he heads off to bed that night, he goes to his desk one more time to double-check the list and finds one last Valentine's Gift on his desk. It is a box of candy hearts and the packaging is in English. To: Atushi. From: Tatsuya.

"American candy?" Murasakibara asks in a hushed, excited tone. For once, he does not inhale the treat in front of him because he is mesmerized by the foreign indulgence. What he doesn't know is that his shadow has a stockpile of American treats hidden in his room across the hall. Murasakibara wonders for the first time if it would be inappropriate to give a White Day gift to another boy.

* * *

Kuroko gets exactly three gifts on Valentine's Day. One is from his mother, one from Momoi, and a third from Kanto-kun. This is precisely one more than last year, and he is cheered by the fact that at least he has become a little more noticeable to the female species.

* * *

Aomine is in a bad mood all morning on Valentine's Day. He hasn't received a single piece of chocolate, and he has to make do by stealing pieces from Sakurai who is surprisingly popular among the ladies of Tōō. If his ego allowed him a moment to contemplate why the apologetic mushroom was better liked, he might have come to the conclusion that it was because he came off as an arrogant douchebag most of the time.

But that wasn't the reason that the girls ignored him - well, at least it wasn't the only reason - no, it was because Momoi had made it very clear that he was off-limits. Yes, she still had the lingering traces of a crush on Tetsuya, but she realized after the defeat at Winter Cup, that she'd only used Tetsuya as a way of making Dai-chan jealous. It hadn't really worked, not for anyone involved, but the instantaneous difference she'd seen in Dai-chan post-Winter Cup made her understand she was just being stupid. She has always been, of course, helplessly and eternally in love with her childhood friend. When she'd woken up to that fact, she made it very clear to the entire female population of Tōō that he was hers.

After practice she insisted that he walk her home and, with eyes that looked less lazy and indolent than in the past four years, he looked at her and shrugged. He didn't even complain, so when she took a different route home, one that went right passed Dai-chan's favorite restaurant, he was surprised when she dragged him inside and bought him a teriyaki burger for dinner.

"Oi, Satsuki, what's this all about?" he asked.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Dai-chan."

* * *

Midorima remembers it is Valentine's Day only because of the Oha Asa report from the morning. His ranking today is at an all-time low and his lucky item is incredibly embarrassing. He looks at his mother, hoping that she will suggest he just go back to bed. She only smiles and pats him on the arm and goes about her day.

Takao arrives at his door earlier than normal. He has an incredible wide smile, it is obvious he is holding back laughter. Midorima is sure that Takao has listened to this morning report as well, and he's expecting to join in with the other's jest about today's lucky item.

"Don't dawdle, Takao, I have to go purchase my lucky item across town this morning."

"No you don't, Shin-chan," Takao's smile widens, threatening to split his face. Midorima gives him a withering look, but it softens when Takao reaches inside his school bag and pulls forth a small pink unicorn stuffed animal and holds it out to him. It is small enough that it will fit inside his pocket without ruining the lines of his uniform.

"Excellent," Shin-chan proclaims, pocketing the item with one hand and pushing his glasses up with the other. "I'll treat you to breakfast on the way to school, as I'm sure you haven't had time."

"Thanks Shin-chan, that would be awesome."

* * *

Akashi is of two minds on Valentine's Day. He is pleased he has not received a single piece of chocolate. Chocolate is not on his approved diet and it is frivolous and unnecessary. Valentine's Day is nothing more than a Western holiday meant to make people spend money unwisely. He is proud to not have to participate in trivial matters such as exchanging tokens of affection with someone who barely knows him, but at the same time there is a small voice in the back of his head that wonders if he will always be unloved. He quashes the voice, sublimating it back down where it belongs and continues writing his book report on Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood."


	2. White Day

Kise hands out promotional pictures prepared for today by his agency. He looks super kawaii in them, but he thinks there is a little too much skin showing. By noon the teachers begin confiscating them and an hour later Kise is suspended from school for a week because of the ruckus his publicity stunt has caused. The team is not happy that they will have to play Josei without their Ace. It is a spectacular fail of a White Day and Kise is relieved that this monstrosity of a holiday only comes once a year. _Hmm, maybe I can get suspended before White Day next year and avoid the whole thing. _A plot begins to form.

* * *

At first glance Aomine's White Day present to Satsuki seems...well...a little selfish, but anyone who knows Momoi, knows that she will enjoy watching the JBL game more than he does. He picks her up and escorts her to the game, where he springs for a program, a cherry cola, and ice cream. She is enraptured with the play, but that doesn't stop her from noticing how close he is sitting to her or how he's watching her much more than the game. They hold hands on the way home and he wonders how he can make her forget her infatuation with Tetsu. She wonders what took him so long.

* * *

Kuroko is relieved when Aomine-kun sends him a text telling him to [stay the hell away from Momoi]. He's happy not only that his friends are finally getting their act together, but because that he can spend the money he put aside for her present on vanilla shakes.

* * *

Ususally the fact that Tatsuya doesn't like sweets is convenient to their friendship, but as White Day approached, it makes thinking very hard for Murasakibara. He spends days pouring over his cookbooks, looking for the perfect savory recipe. He might "love" basketball, but cooking pastries is his true passion and one of the few ways he knew how to show affection.

The morning of March 14th he goes out early to the grocer and chooses the ingredients with care. He retreats to the small kitchenette in the basement of the dorm and cleans the surfaces before he begins to form the perfect crust. This is his all-purpose crust, a buttery, flaky masterpiece, that he's perfected over years of trial and error. It will be splendid, if the smell is any indication. He washes the spinach and chops the onion and then sautes both in olive oil. He lowers the temperature in the oven once the crust is finished cooking. He sets it aside while he whisks the large eggs, the cup and a half of heavy cream and the shredded swiss cheese. He folds in the spinach and onions and then pours the whole concoction into the sizzling hot pie crust. It smells heavenly. He adds a few pats of butter to the top and a dusting of nutmeg to finish it off.

He can barely be troubled to clean up the mess as he waits for it to clean, but he knows he will most likely be the next person to cook here again and its so annoying to work in a dirty kitchen. He waits the forty minutes in the kitchen and snacks on potato chips while it cooks. Quiché is best eaten after it sets, so he stairs at it for fifteen minutes before he cannot wait another second. He carries the steaming masterpiece up stairs and doors open, noses sniffing the scent, as he passes, but he ignores them. There is only one person he will share this Quiché with. He kicks Himuro's door rather than risking holding the hot pan with one gloved hand.

Himuro is used to the abrupt, classless kicking of his door and he expects to be dragged around town in search of some new, amazing snack that must be sampled RIGHT NOW, so he is hesitant and slow coming to the door. When he finally opens it, half dressed and scratching his stomach under his rumpled t-shirt, he is surprised to see Atushi's shy smile towering over him, holding something that smells like paradise.

"What's the occasion, Atushi?" Himuro asks.

"It's White Day and on White Day you give present to those who gave you Valentine's presents," Murasakibara explains, failing to mention that it is usually a boy returning a gift to a girl. He figures Tatsuya doesn't need that bit of information.

"Come in," Himuro steps back and allows Murasakibara to move by him into the room. "What are we having on this lazy Saturday morning?"

"Quiché Florentine."

"Excellent, I think I have a nice wine stashed in my sock drawer that will pair nicely."

Murasakibara smiles because he can tell by the slight twinkle in his friends eye that Tatsuya is happy.

* * *

Midorima has prepared in every conceivable way for the big English test scheduled for this morning. He has spent hours studying with Takao, stuttering over sounds that should never be uttered by a human tongue. He's had plenty of rest and his sign is well ranked according to this morning's Oha Asa report. He has his rolling pencil in his breast pocket. He will not allow Takao to "borrow" it again. Today's lucky item is a stuffed penguin. He has varying sizes, so he chooses the largest one, knowing that English is his worse subject. He is even wearing today's lucky color with purple underwear.

The only hesitation he feels is that Scorpio is dangerously low in the rankings. Takao relies on scholarships. Midorima relies on Takao. It is a precarious balance. So he makes a second trip out to the Lucky Item shed in the backyard and he finds among the box of rubber duckies (and there are a fair number of them in his collection) one that meets Takao's lucky item requirements for today: it wears scuba gear and it is bright orange.

Takao looks exhausted when he arrives at the Midorima gate, as if he spent the whole night awake.

"Tch, you could have at least attempted to get a good night's sleep before an important test."

"Well..." Takao's smile is so fake, it might as well have been made of plastic. There are some questions Midorima doesn't know how to ask, so he ignores them.

"Here," Midorima shoves the rubber duck into Takao's hand. "Your lucky item, perhaps it will mitigate some of your poor choices."

"Will you let me borrow your rolling pencil today?"

"Die," Midorima deadpans and begins the walk to school. It takes Takao a beat to catch up, but when he does his smile is genuine.

* * *

Akashi pretends that White Day means nothing to him, but he arranges for five dozen roses in a mixture of blue and white to be delivered to the homes of each member of his former team at Teiko. It is his way of saying, _you are still my bitches_. It gives him no end of pleasure to think about their reactions.


End file.
